It’s November! I was
excited to see the comments from Katherine and Kayla last time about their NaNo
thoughts. Kayla, how is it going for
you???? Katherine, did you decide to do
something this year?
For me, it’s only 3 days into my version of NaNo and I
already bombed the first two. :( Both days I meant to write, had ideas to
write, and even scribbled some sketchy wayward scraps onto paper, but Life
interfered and nothing actually got done, other than teary diary writing at one AM this morning.
Big Gusty Sigh.
So I decided to revamp my NaNo goal this year. Instead of writing every day, I will do
something crafty or creative every day.
It might be scratching words on paper, or it might be a half-hour of
twisting myself into a pretzel to photograph sunbeams through broken glass in
the sidewalk crack. Or it could be
creating new clothes from the mountain of plus-size sweaters and shirts in my
closet. Or making Christmas gifts. Or experimenting with papercrafting. The only thing which doesn’t count is pinning
on Instagram. :D
And no, changing my goal is absolutely not cheating, because
NaNo is about personal goals. And while
I want to wear the ink-spattered cloak of words again, to feel the buzz of characters
and stories inside my brain, I also want to see jewels where others see broken
glass, and I want to capture it on film so they can see the diamonds too. And every other crafty thing. I think NaNo for me this year is about taking
hammer and chisel to the dingy brick wall which has held my creativity captive
for the past two years. That sounds
melodramatic but in reality that is just how it feels. I never realized how essential the act of
creation was to the well-being of my soul until that part of me shriveled up in
Florida
Yes, I probably am certifiable.
Anyway. With my
schedule of insanity writing and photography and crafting consistently make it
to the cramped margins of my to-do list, which means they stay to-do and never
get done. And…that’s why I’m changing my
goal to make them priorities instead of luxuries. Unorthodox, but my creative soul is very
excited.
Did I mention I love November?!
November is awesome - this year I'm loving it because I'm getting to read along as one of my favorite authors does NaNo. So fun to get a chapter a day... XD
ReplyDeleteI know I want to finish the novel I'm currently working most on (it's. sooooo. close!!!) but at the same time I should really be formatting the short story I'm going to self-publish this winter... so I'm torn between both goals - I should really just pick one and go for it, shouldn't I? :)
Love your goal! Haha, all writers may be certifiable... XD but you are so right - creativity isn't a luxury; we NEED it.